Using Learning Analytics to Improve Student Experience

Using Learning Analytics to Improve Student Experience

Since its advent, learning analytics have always been a useful tool for educators worldwide. Colleges and universities are doubling down on these online web-based measurements, to figure out how to enhance the use of rich data that’s been captured from students to improve their collective understanding of their students. With the field of learning analytics advancing in a tremendous pace, learning analytics scholars around the world are trying to figure out how to improve teaching and learning through learning analytics.

These days educational institutions are adopting personalized education in a larger scale but to do this we need data. Through the ability to access relevant data and the understanding of the ways these data can be used have evolved significantly. With educational institutions adopting digital education extensively, and not just online education, relevant data in the learning environment are available to everyone. Amidst this scene traditional campuses are looking at learning analytics more aggressively over the past five years.

Before, the work involved in the learning analytics field was focused on providing information to remote students and updating dashboards for online institutions like Athabasca in Canadaor Open University in UK. However with a growing and maturing field like that of learning analytics, institutions are adding more learning theory and knowledge from human computer interactions for designing analytic display.

Gaining greater access to Data

For the past 20 years education has evolved far from the conceptualized learning that adapted cognitive science. Now educators are realizing that learning is a part of a larger environment and each individual student react and act in this environment differently. With this realization educators are trying to access rich and intensive data about learning which will provide them an opportunity to create an educational system that enhances student’s knowledge, rather burdening them with, what a panel of educators think is essential for their education.

Rich data can be employed in many innovative ways to understand every student individually in a deeper level. Before, in traditional educational system students used to do a tremendous amount of writing in college. This writing comprises rich information regarding student’s understanding of the concept. However in the past when writing was committed to paper the information became obsolete in a shorter period of time. By storing this information educators could get a picture of student’s understanding of concepts, his rate of understanding concepts, his retentivity etc. This rich data that are easily accessible, can be employed to enhance the learning experience for students by using learning analytics.

Advantages of Learning Analytics

With learning analytics the course of a student’s learning experience can be dramatically changed starting from the very beginning by helping them to make course corrections according to their capabilities, understanding best practices and to support other kind of practices which will make them better students.

Through learning analytics there is an opportunity for students to get hands-on training in making evidence based decisions. By enhancing their decision making skills, we are creating a better student who can go on becoming a better citizen, worker, and ultimately better individual as we equip them better for a world that awaits them after their education.